Even
by Sheo Darren
Summary: ExT oneshot. Sequel to Hot. Eriol's revenge on Tomoyo goes according to plan until the very end. Enjoy.


"It's simple, really. You destroyed my dignity a week ago." After a short but dramatic pause, Eriol smiled. "Consider us even."

It took a moment for Tomoyo to digest that.

Then:

"**We are **_**not**_**!"**

**  
**_**Even**_

**  
Disclaimer: **I do not own Card Captor Sakura or Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. This is a purely fictional work.

This one-shot is the sequel to my earlier one-shot **Hot**. The gang here is fifteen and in high school. Rated PG-7 for Eriol's pettiness, Tomoyo's temper and Kurogane. Though not as good as **Hot**, please enjoy. ^_^

**  
**Daidouji Tomoyo had no idea what she unleashed when she destroyed Hiiragizawa Eriol's reputation a week ago.

For those who had forgotten, she had come down with a fever. Really; she _was_ sick. Eriol had to take her to the clinic. Simple, was it not? Not when the delirious Tomoyo started acting all familiar with her carrier. She asked embarrassing questions, did even more upsetting things and revealed that she liked to nibble on earlobes.

No one really knew if she had intentionally harassed the bespectacled Brit. Only Tomoyo knew for certain. And she would never tell.

Making it worse for Eriol, Sakura and Syaoran and everyone else thought it was the other way around. That **he** was the victimizer and Tomoyo the **victim**. It showed. Girls pointedly avoided him. Boys either gave him thumbs up or drew them across their throats.

His good name was gone. Destroyed. Annihilated. Disintegrated. Evaporated. And so many other words pertaining to destruction.

But now he would return the favor. She destroyed his dignity. He would destroy hers. His snares were set. His plan was perfect. His tools were willing, devious and legion. Tomoyo did not know what was coming her way.

Ah, yes. Revenge was sweet, even for the likes of half the reincarnation of Clow Read.

But why did he even bother? Wasn't he supposed to be above earthly pettiness? Wasn't he better than this? Why stoop to such a low? Why bother?

Why, indeed?

Well…

The private, unspoken, unsolicited opinion of Akizuki Nakuru is that the more you hate someone, the more you actually love that person.

That the Moon Guardian does not apply her own words of wisdom to her relationship with her 'big brother'/archenemy Tsukishiro Yukito is understandable. People never take their own advice seriously.

They should, really. Yukito and Nakuru makes for a great Romancer pairing.

So does Eriol and Tomoyo. They're quite established as a pair, really.

It's just that they keep on postponing it.

**  
**Tomoyo should have known what to expect when she found that letter in her shoe locker.

But it was always full courtesy an army of anonymous admirers. She had to empty it every single morning. In the afternoon, she took care of stragglers. And she **had** to read them all. Worse, she had to reply to them as she saw fit. It was impolite not to. Thank God for her Mama's speed reading and writing lessons.

She was the most eligible girl in Tomoeda sort. (Sakura was already taken. People who have issues with that can take it to Syaoran. Be forewarned: he does not take kindly to such protests.) The Daidouji heiress was rich, smart, talented, kind, refined and, most of all, utterly lovely. She was a princess in all but rank and blood. The lucky guy who married her was set for life, death and a hundred afterlives of pure bliss.

Tomoyo had to act the part of her lofty status. She gracefully glided about the campus dispensing favors with the regal poise of a ruling monarch. Always accompanying her was a coterie of 'handmaidens': Naoko, Rika, Chiharu and her darling Sakura-_chan_. She broke hearts with a word and instilled hope with a smile. At times, she even seemed like true royalty– the Tsukuyomi Princess of Nihon, perhaps. Certainly she was in another lifetime and dimension.

But this letter!

It was a dark blue letter envelope that stood out in the mishmash of white. Like all the others, there was no identifying mark on it. But its contents were a cut above the rest.

**  
**_Tomoyo,_

**  
**_I will not bore you with petty details. Simply, hear this:_

_I love you._

_Please, meet me behind the gym after classes._

**  
**_Yours,_

_Me_

**  
**Her being somewhat jaded was understandable. She had read a million love letters written by a million love-struck boys. She had also politely but firmly dumped all of them.

But this letter was different. For one thing, it was brief and simple. No flowery chicanery or clichéd lines, like the poetry Eriol liked to have her read and pronounce judgment upon. (And what was **that** all about?) It was straightforward and came straight from the heart. Pondering upon this mysterious new writer's identity made his request even more attractive.

Thus, the goddess decided to grace this unique mortal with her attention and presence. Even if he was not her type, she was sure that he was a great guy to know and befriend.

Kurogane protested. Her bodyguard did not trust anyone with his violet blossom princess. It was especially so with the male half of the species a.k.a. 'boys'. He maintained, loudly, that there was no compact between a lamb and wolves. To which the metaphorical lamb in question pointed out that her sheepdog was descended from such wolves.

He was so overprotective that he had already scared off a good number of potential boyfriends. And why shouldn't he? Six feet tall and two hundred pounds of muscle, Kurogane could have intimidated a lion into cowardice. He made even the likes of Syaoran nervous. In fact, the only people he couldn't scare were Eriol and Tomoyo.

And he could not refuse Tomoyo's tiniest of orders. So when she ordered him not to show his face at where she was going, he had to obey.

He did, however, have the habit of translating his orders with a great amount of freedom.

"So I can't show my face around there, huh? Fine…"

"What are you talking about, Kuro-chan?"

"Nothing, Tomoyo-hime-sama, nothing…"

**  
**Well-hidden by his magic, Eriol watched Tomoyo merrily skip towards the back of the gym. He smiled. His quarry had swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker. Everything was going according to plan.

That is, until he noticed that a big bush was stealthily following her.

_Huh?_

**  
**The space behind the gym was the archetypical trysting place for students. Tomoyo had prepared quite well in the short time allowed her. A quick brushing session with the curious Sakura, some perfume, and she was off. And she was here.

She was not alone for long.

"Daidouji-san!"

Tomoyo suppressed a groan.

It was the star captain of the school soccer team. She had rejected him six months ago. Her rebuff broke him for three. _What was he doing here?_

"I was told," he answered her unspoken question, "That you'd like to meet me here. I can't believe that you wanted to talk to me."

He got no answer. Tomoyo was stupefied by the impossibility of her situation. This guy couldn't be the one who sent the letter. He was a jock, illiterate. What little brain cells he had were long dead due Syaoran's game-winning 'Drive Shooter' shot impacting his head.

No. No. No! His presence here was merely a coincidence.

Or this entire meet was a very bad joke.

Nope. This was not funny. This was just a dream. A very bad dream. A nightmare.

Meanwhile, her confident admirer took advantage of her distraction to reach for her shoulder.

"Now, let's not be strangers to each oth–"

The bush next to them suddenly exploded into silent leafy action. A pair of strong hands clamped around the soccer captain's mouth and neck. Before the poor boy could even think to struggle or scream, he had already been dragged into the bush. The shrubbery shuddered violently. There was a dull thud, a small gasp of pain, and then still silence.

Tomoyo was surprised to discover that she was alone. Then she became thankful.

"He must have given up and left while I wasn't looking. Oh, well. At least he went out quietly."

Was that her imagination, or was the bush grumbling?

"Tomoyo?"

Again she groaned. Another jilted admirer had appeared. It was the captain of the basketball team this time. Same story. He was even more of a jock than the soccer guy.

"Someone told me I could find you here," he began.

Yep. Same line, even. Whoever planned this prank, he or she put a lot of time and effort into this. And definitely knew her well. Knew about her schedules and tastes and thoughts to have planned things out this was.

There was only one person she knew who could have done this.

There was a piercing noise nearby. Startled but thankful for this excuse, she turned to look for its source.

In that same moment, the basketball captain also disappeared into the shrubbery courtesy the hands from earlier. Again Tomoyo was mystified to find the space he occupied as empty as his head.

_Something is wrong here…_

"Tomoyo?"

It was the local loser nerd. His face looked like the asteroid from the Armageddon movie and oozed with enough oil to rival Saudi Arabia.

She sighed. This was going to be a long day.

**  
**The long day wore on.

Tomoyo was quite disenchanted with the steady stream of suitors. It was always the same routine. Guy would call her out, show pretend surprise at her presence and then try to profess his love. A distraction then appears. While she's distracted, poof! The current annoyance was gone– only to be replaced by a new, horrible menace.

Not that she could handle them. It just got repetitively boring after a while. At least the distractions remained quite unique. There were birdcalls, rustling, flashes of movement and color, even a raven that noisily attacked the unassuming bush it had burst free from. She didn't know how her mysterious rescuer had managed that last one.

She had a suspicion as to who this person was, too…

**  
**Kurogane had his own worries. The pile of unconscious suitors next to him was growing. They couldn't **all** fit in the bush he was using for cover. He had to drag them off to somewhere else. And he had to hurry. He had no desire to leave Tomoyo unwatched and unguarded for long. If anything happened to the smallest hair on her head, he'd have instantly committed seppuku_._

Worse, some of them snored. Loudly. Then there was that fat twerp who must have weighed a ton. He actually **grunted** while lugging that piece of deadweight a distance of twenty-five feet.

And there was the raven. The damned bird had tried pecking off two of his fingers and his nose. Then it had promptly dive-bombed him upon release. Crummy bird. Crummy job. Crummier life.

_The things I do for the princess…_

He was not prepared for what happened next.

**  
**"Tomoyo-chan?"

Horror filled the world-weary Tomoyo. She knew that voice. Never in a million years would she have expected to hear **her** here, thought.

_No. No. Please, God, no. Don't do this to me. Don't. Don't You dare do this to me!_

It was a rather embarrassed Yanagisawa Naoko. She was puffy and perspiring from having had to run all the way from the library with all those thick books in her arms. She was also blushing quite badly.

And Tomoyo groaned.

**  
**It turned out that Naoko wasn't there to confess undying love, but to convey a message. That itself was a huge relief. Though Tomoyo herself knew what it was like to fall in love with another girl, she found it freaky to be the very object of affection.

Was she being hypocritical? Sheo Darren would instantly kill the person who broached that question.

Thankfully, Sakura did not appear. Or was that a good thing? Syaoran notwithstanding, she still did like her cousin a lot.

It took Tomoyo a minute's worth of reciting her personal mantra to erase that very wrong thought.

_Sakura-chan is Syaoran-kun's. Sakura-chan is Syaoran-kun's. Sakura-chan is Syaoran-kun's. Sakura-chan is Syaoran-kun's~_

She grimaced.

_Mou…_

**  
**Aside, Kurogane was thankful he did not have to knock out a girl. There were some things that even he drew a line at. Besides, Naoko **was** cute.

THWACK.

It was a soft bop on the head. Else, the princess might have heard him and have his head for entertaining naughty thoughts about her friends.

Remember, kids, that rorikon thoughts are bad. Do not follow the example of Kurogane or Sheo Darren. 'Kay? 'Kay.

**  
**"So, Nao-chan, just who sent you here?"

When she heard just who started all of this, Tomoyo actually frowned.

**  
**She found her suspect at the flagpole area. Eriol's politely smug smirk was more pronounced than usual– and for good reason.

His plan had succeeded beyond his best expectations. He had done what many thought impossible: Rile the local Goddess of Tomoeda.

Now, all that remained was the coup de grace. And where better to deliver the finis than where everyone could see them?

"Ah, Daidouji-san," he deadpanned upon sight of her. "What a surprise to see you here."

Tomoyo did not bother any pretense of civility. She did not want to be civil. What she so badly wanted was to punch Eriol. No matter that she'd probably hurt herself more than this smirking jerk. Maybe she could have Kurogane do it for her. Or maybe she could tell Kaho-sensei. Surely **she** was the best person to deal with the blue-haired imp smiling at her so devilishly.

But no! This particular aggravation deserved personal action and attention. And so her half-snarl, half-scream:

"**ERIOL!"**

"Now, now, Daidouji-san. Don't be so loud. Everyone is watching us, you know."

She glared daggers at him. "You were the one who sent all those guys there, weren't you? Admit it, you scoundrel!"

His answer was to unfold his arms and widen his smile. "Now, now, Daidouji-san," he smoothly posed, "How can you accuse me of such things I have no knowledge of?"

"Don't bandy words with me, you scheming weasel!" Steam jetted out her cute little angry ears. "I know exactly how you operate!"

But of course she knew. He knew that **she** knew. That mutual knowledge made it so fun to needle her in front of all their classmates.

"Would you like to know why I did that?"

She put her hands upon her hips and fumed.

He waited patiently for her curiosity to get the better of her.

"Fine," she suddenly snapped. "Tell me why?"

"It's simple, really. You destroyed my dignity a week ago." After a short but dramatic pause, Eriol smiled. "Consider us even."

It took a moment for Tomoyo to digest that.

**  
**Aside, Sakura and Syaoran had just arrived. The two were curious as to why their friends were arguing in sight of half the school's population. So was Chiharu, Yamazaki, Naoko, Rika and everyone else.

Still incognito despite being in the middle of a knot of perplexed girls, Kurogane now knew who the enemy was was.

_That twerp won't live to see this sunset…_

**  
**Then:

"**We are **_**not**_**!"** fairly shrilled Tomoyo.

"Yes, we are," calmly countered Eriol.

"**Are not!"**

"Are too."

"**Oh, yeah?"**

"Oh, yes."

She glared.

He smiled.

She glared some more.

He simply smiled back.

And then she slowly broke into a smile as well.

His smirk faltered just a bit. And he realized that their faces were very close. Too close– and too late.

Tomoyo put her hands around Eriol's neck, pulled his face down to hers and kissed him full on the lips.

**  
**Individual reactions were mixed.

Sakura fainted into Syaoran's arms. Again. The poor girl…

Chiharu gaped. Before Yamazaki could begin his usual commentary, she then planted the back of her fist into his face. He promptly shut up.

Naoko considered making a play out of this scene. Guess who the lead pair is?

Rika went "Aww…" and wished it was her and Terada-sensei.

And Kurogane stood up, yanked Sohi out and angrily advanced on the boy who dared despoil **his** Hime-sama's pristine lips.

(Pointing out that it was his Hime-sama who started it is dangerous. Let it lie.)

**  
**When Tomoyo finally broke off lip lock, Eriol would have held her for more. Then he realized what he was about to do.

He also noticed that everyone was staring at them. Everyone, that is, except Sakura, currently unconscious yet again in the arms of Syaoran.

Oh, and the bush from earlier was now a big angry ninja toting a sword and heading his way. The look in the guy's eyes was not friendly.

But Tomoyo had beaten him again. In one stroke, she had reversed his hard-won advantage and ruined him again. It was a Pyrrhic victory for her, but still a victory. After all, his reputation had just become worse. Now all the people who loved Tomoyo would hate him for taking their goddess away from them. It wasn't just Syaoran and Kurogane he'd have to deal with now.

Just one thing made sense to Eriol.

_She kissed me._

_Tomoyo kissed me._

_No: she tongued me._

_She __**tongued**__ me!_

For only the second time in his life, Hiiragizawa Eriol blushed.

And Daidouji Tomoyo grinned foxily as she told her bewildered opponent:

"No, we're not even."

He blinked at that. Realizing what it all meant now, he had to smile back. And this time, it was mutual.

"Not for long."

So he kissed her back.

And then they were really even.

**  
Owari/End/Katapusan**


End file.
